In the parlance of A. Lange & Söhne, arguably Germany’s greatest watchmaker, “Zeitwerk” emphasizes a mechanical digital time display by placing it front and center, occupying both sides of the dial, and showing the hours on the left and minutes on the right. Not only are they driven by mechanical intricacy, but they also reflect a compelling design reference to boot. The design is an echo of the display of the Five Minute Clock at Dresden’s Opera House, originally built and finished in 1841 by master watch and clockmaker Johann Christian Friedrich Gutkaes, whose apprentice was none other than Ferdinand Adolph Lange. Each of A. Lange & Söhne’s date windows across the Lange 1, Saxonia, and Odysseus have reflected the opera house’s own bold, inimitable aesthetic. And the Zeitwerk series, first launched in 2009, is a unique design concept in haute horology, as it flits through the hours nearly instantaneously using a jumping-hour mechanism.